چکیده انگلیسی

Abstract
Previous narrative reviews of the relation between antisocial behavior (ASB) and neuropsychological tests of executive functioning (EF) have raised numerous methodological concerns and produced equivocal conclusions. By using meta-analytic procedures, this study attempts to remedy many of these concerns and quantifies the relation between ASB and performance on six reasonably well validated measures of EF. Thirty-nine studies yielding a total of 4,589 participants were included in the analysis. Overall, antisocial groups performed .62 standard deviations worse on EF tests than comparison groups; this effect size is in the medium to large range. Significant variation within this effect size estimate was found, some of which was accounted for by differences in the operationalizations of ASB (e.g., psychopathy vs. criminality) and measures of EF. Evidence for the specificity of EF deficits relative to deficits on other neuropsychological tasks was inconsistent. Unresolved conceptual problems regarding the association between ASB and EF tests, including the problem of localizing EF tests to specific brain regions, are discussed.
THE PAST DECADE has witnessed a heightened appreciation of the role of biological influences on antisocial behavior (ASB) Lykken 1995 and Raine 1993. Among the biological factors that have been found to be associated with ASB are genetic influences, pre- and perinatal complications (Raine, Brennan, & Mednick, 1994), psychophysiological abnormalities (Raine, 1997), and differences in neurotransmitter functioning (Berman, Kavoussi, & Coccaro, 1997). One major issue that has received heightened attention in recent years is the relation between ASB and both intellectual and neuropsychological functioning. Antisocial groups score approximately 8 points lower on intelligence tests than nonantisocial groups Heilbrun 1979, Heilbrun & Heilbrun 1985 and Henry & Moffitt 1997, although the reasons for this difference are unclear. In addition, numerous authors (e.g., Elliott 1978, Gorenstein 1982 and Raine 1997) have conjectured that deficits in the brain's executive functions (EFs) are an important correlate or risk factor for ASB. Nevertheless, the relation between ASB and EF remains controversial, largely because previous studies of this association have typically yielded contradictory results (see Kandel and Freed 1982 and Lilienfeld 1992, for reviews).
The purpose of this article is to quantify the relation between ASB and EF using meta-analytic methods. Specifically, we combine effect sizes from individual studies into a mean estimate of the relation between ASB and performance on EF tests. Although the ultimate goal of research in this area may be to establish causal factors for ASB, that is not the primary purpose of this article. In all of the studies we reviewed, ASB was already present at the time of assessment. Consequently, it is not possible to determine whether EF is a precursor of ASB, a sequela of ASB, or a correlate that is associated with ASB via unidentified third variables.